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March 2014 Moms
Mafernj
member
Need a little reassurance ... Trying to succeed at EBF
Mafernj
member
So as advised by some of the ladies here I have gone EBF and altho I still think my production is low ( breast feel soft) LO has fed overnight every 3-4 hours and I change her diaper but she is waking up at 5 am stays up for an hour or two then goes back to sleep. Today she has been sleeping a bit more than usual but I was able to feed her in between . Wet diapers after each feeding I think I changed 5 so far (8pm) I tried feed her a bottle of breast milk and she puked on me... Did I over feed? Now she is sleeping again. It's very stressful not knowing how much she is taking in from the breast. Am I doing this wrong? I have never in my life been so stressed and obsessed w feedings . TIA
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Need a little reassurance ... Trying to succeed at EBF
Breathe.
It sounds like the bottle wasn't necessary. Are you trying to go by a schedule? I learned that a schedule doesn't work for my baby. Sometimes she's hungry 2 hours after her last feed, sometimes 4 hours, sometimes 1 hour. Sometimes she wants to eat from both breasts (like if she's gone a long time between feeds), sometimes she only wants one side. I let her be the boss.
If your baby is content and is putting out plenty of wet and dirty diapers, and is gaining weight (sounds like this is all true), then the number of ounces doesn't matter at all. That's just you worrying because you're a mom and you're nervous, but everything is fine!
When your baby is hungry, they'll give you signals BEFORE crying. They'll try to suck their hands (my baby does this even when she's not hungry, though), turn their head from side to side with mouth open, etc. Watch your baby and you'll learn their individual way of asking for food. My daughter will dive toward my breast if I'm holding her upright!
When you're not sure, just offer your breast often. If baby wants to eat, they will. If they want to comfort suck, it's still good for your milk supply and it's good for bonding. If they don't want anything, they'll be uninterested in the breast. If baby is content, don't worry about trying to give a bottle!
Also, your breasts still have milk even if they're soft. That's normal. Your body adjusts to make what baby needs, not more. If you have just what baby needs, your breasts should NOT constantly feel firm and full anymore. They'd only feel like that if baby went longer than normal without eating.
Check out kellymom.com for tons of info about breastfeeding, problem solving, and what's normal. It's a great site and that's what helped me through when I was really worrying about if I was doing things right.